By Sharon Jayson, USA TODAY
Hannah Zelinger just gave her doll collection to her 3-year-old cousin — and now Hannah’s bedroom in Long Beach, N.Y., is going from all pink to a black-and-white geometric design that’s more mature.
After all, she’s 9. And by today’s standards, she’s leaving childhood behind.
“At 3, 4, 5 and 6, they’re playing with toys and dolls and puppet shows and crafts. It stops at 7. After that, they kind of skip into tween,” says Hannah’s mother, Jennifer Zelinger. “She talks about boys asking them out and who’s going to like them.”
Zelinger says Hannah wants some independence. But as a mother, Zelinger says, she’s so torn about that idea that when Hannah rides her bicycle around the block to see a friend, the moms are on the phone for the entire journey.